During the Motion to Recuse her honor in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, Judge Carole Smitherman verbally attacked Burt Newsome, displayed flagrant bias, and then implicated her family. “You have attacked my family unfairly,” she yowled, according to court transcripts. Why would she say “family?” In his Motion to Recuse, Newsome pointed out that her husband, State Senator Rodger Smitherman had sat in multiple, secret Star Chamber hearings and been the recipient of about $30,000 in campaign cash from Balch affiliated entities or individuals. Smitherman should have said her husband, but either way she showed unrestrained judicial bias. As we reported,…

Hard evidence hurts. What the folks at Balch & Bingham cannot seem to grasp is that while on its face the contributions to the Oliver Robinson Foundation were legal, the alleged “official acts” by then-State Representative Oliver Robinson (dispatching letters on state letterhead written by Gilbert, meeting with the EPA, coached and then appearing before the AEMC, etc.) make them alleged bribes. As our friends at the U.S. Department of Justice clarified: If the connection is causally direct – if money was given essentially to purchase or ensure an official act, as a “quid pro quo” then the crime is…

We now understand why Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr. hasn’t made any further stupid mistakes now that the veil of the secretive Star Chamber was ripped wide-open. He was replaced by Andy Campbell of the boutique law firm Campbell Guinn to defend Balch & Bingham earlier this year. And what did Andy do? According to the Newsome’s Writ of Mandamus, Andy Campell donated $2,000 directly to Judge Smitherman’s campaign in February, one of the bigger donations to the Queen of the Star Chamber. Unbelievable. Steve Feaga, the Chief Compliance Officer at Balch and based in Montgomery, surely looks like he was…

Corruption breeds stupidity. So what can campaign contributions buy you? Bias? Favoritism? Court orders that are way out of order? In the massive Writ of Mandamus calling on Judge Carole Smitherman to be recused and her 44 retaliatory orders be stricken, Burt Newsome provides indisputable evidence of courtroom bias, flagrant injustice, and judicial sloppiness that even justices of the Alabama Supreme Court will roll their eyes when they read it. In one of her retaliatory orders, Smitherman throws out two of the most critical affidavits showing that the single phone number connecting the alleged co-conspirators was indeed a pre-paid cell…

In the Newsome Conspiracy Case, Judge Carole Smitherman was angry, seething in the secret Star Chamber hearing where she refused to recuse herself. She lashed out at Newsome. She continually interrupted Newsome and his lawyer. And she repeatedly talked down to them in anger. She unequivocally affirmed the appearance of reckless bias and alleged judicial misconduct. We always knew anger is the enemy of logic. And Judge Smitherman may have had a Freudian slip of the mouth. According to the transcript, Smitherman said to Newsome: You have attacked my family unfairly, and that is wrong. You and the person who you…

In the ongoing criminal bribery trial, according to news reports, Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman is listed as a defense witness for indicted Balch & Bingham partners Steven McKinney and Joel Gilbert, and Drummond Company executive David Roberson. Senator Smitherman received what looks like two pay through contributions from Drummond: one through BIPAC in November for $5,000 and another in April from NEWPAC for $5,000. Why is Drummond supporting Smitherman? Could it be to help obtain favorable and supportive testimony? Or was it a pay through on behalf of Balch in their foolish fight with Burt Newsome? We may have…

Is Balch & Bingham really this stupid? We knew the secretive Star Chamber would be used to hide alleged perjury, criminal conduct and other allegations of unsavory misconduct. Now the secret veil has been ripped wide open at the same time as a criminal trial against two partners in the firm has started. There are over 400 pages of horrific evidence in the Writ of Mandamus filed with the Alabama Supreme Court after Carole Smitherman refused to recuse herself as  presiding judge of the Star Chamber. The following day after the Writ was filed, Judge Smitherman retaliated filing 44 orders…

Judge Carole Smitherman, the patron saint of the secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber, may have more problems after she and her husband,  State Senator Rodger Smitherman, accepted $30,000 in questionable contributions from entities funded by, associated with, or run by former associates of Balch & Bingham. The U.S. Department of Justice is cracking down on judicial corruption. Yesterday a Supreme Court Justice in the highest court in the State of West Virginia was arrested. Having provided information to the U.S. Department of Justice on alleged corruption and possible criminal conduct here in the judicial branch of Alabama, we were encouraged with the…

On August 14, 2017, we foreshadowed what could happen in the future with the post “Will Carole Smitherman be the next Oliver Robinson?” Judge Carole Smitherman is the presiding judge of the secretive and criminal Star Chamber that was formed two weeks after our post was written. Oliver Robinson is the former Alabama State Representative who was indicted in a bribery scheme along with two Balch & Bingham partners and a Drummond Co. executive that allegedly suppressed African-Americans from getting their toxic and contaminated property tested in North Birmingham. We wrote at the time: Will Smitherman allow Balch and others…

Today marks 250 days since Judge Carole Smitherman created the unconstitutional and secretive Star Chamber to allegedly shield Balch & Bingham from public exposure in the horrific Newsome Conspiracy Case. We actually feel sorry for Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., the lead Balch & Bingham attorney on the case, who fought for the foolish Star Chamber at the height, the peak of two federal probes. Really, what in the hell was he thinking? We have called the Star Chamber and the questionable and “coincidental” contributions to Judge Smitherman and her husband Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman Balch’s Waterloo. Balch’s Waterloo saw…

The CDLU has investigated, written about, and exposed, not one, two, or three other questionable “contributions” but four in total so far to State Senator Rodger Smitherman, the husband of Judge Carole Smitherman, the Queen of the Star Chamber. Alabama Power’s donation, the fifth questionable contribution, was held under wraps as a courtesy to Tom Fanning, the CEO of Southern Company who called us in November. The donation was the first one made in this “series” of “coincidental” contributions. As we told the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. in January while providing the affirming documentation: Alabama Power provided…

“All those engaged in public corruption must be brought to justice, and it matters not their benefactor or station.” — U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town Public corruption in Alabama makes headlines again, a little over six months after two Balch and Bingham partners were indicted in an alleged bribery scheme. The Birmingham Business Journal wrote: A longtime Alabama lawmaker from Vestavia Hills, a health care CEO and a former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party were arrested on Monday on public corruption charges. The arrests stem from the trio’s involvement with a legislative bill in 2016 focused on insurance coverage…

As we pointed out in different posts starting in December, Judge Carole Smitherman’s husband Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman received first-time contributions and other political cash tied to Balch & Bingham or the co-conspirators of the Newsome Conspiracy case, a case that Judge Smitherman is presiding over. Influence peddling? Corruption? Or just coincidence? Now comes Judge Carole Smitherman’s first campaign disclosure report of the election season, and guess who has donated to her heavily? Attorneys and law firms. No surprise. But what will surely raise eyebrows is the $500 contribution from Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton. As we wrote on…

The blackout and secretive proceedings of the unconstitutional Star Chamber remain sealed and unknown almost six months later. No one close to Balch or working at Jefferson County can tell us what is happening in the Newsome Conspiracy Case—not even Judge Carole Smitherman’s most trusted acquaintances. Silence. Darkness. Secrecy. Although the parties could be in the middle of jury selection or settlement talks, the only thing we have found is what looks like smelly corruption: first time contributions and other political cash to Judge Smitherman’s husband, State Senator Rodger Smitherman. Then again, it could be all a coincidence.  Rodger that!